The mantra of a daily devotional has been used as a holy guilt trip for as long as I can remember.
Let’s examine this sacred cow.
I think with a little examination we’ll get to the bottom of what we’re trying to accomplish while granting us the ability to re-imagine better ways to accomplish the same end goal without all of the weird, cultural baggage.
Here’s what I’ve heard from students recently.
“I’m a good Christian if I read a chapter of the Bible every day.”
“I haven’t really read the Bible recently, but I learned a long time ago it’s easier to just lie about it and say I have. That’s all my parents want to hear.”
“I try to read the Bible every day, but it doesn’t make any sense and seems kind of pointless.”
“Yeah, I read the Bible every day. But I’m just kind of picking a random chapter from somewhere and reading it.”
Unpacking the Daily Devo
Because I’ve actually read the Bible several times I know that there is no command anywhere in Scripture to do an individual daily devotional. (Such as daily Bible reading or reading a commentary.) That very concept is completely a cultural creation bearing little historical context.
- Jesus’ disciples did not begin each day by spreading out alone and spending 15-20 minutes reading God’s word and writing in a journal.
- Even if there was high literacy among God’s people in the Bible, they had virtually no access to the written books we call the Bible today. It wasn’t really until the late 20th century that Christian families started to have a Bible for each individual in a home.
- In preaching on this concept we (church leaders) often take things out of one cultural context and apply it to our own, the daily devotional concept is an excellent example of this. Yes, Jesus went on a mountain to pray. But none of the Gospels say this was a daily occurrence. Yes, many times Paul encourages believers to stay in the habit of meeting together, of regular prayer and fasting, but that doesn’t imply that this was something done daily nor was it a measurement of a persons worth.
- We lump prayer, something the Bible obviously teaches and provides examples of, as part of a daily devo. But most often when we refer to “daily devo” we are really asking people if they’ve read the Bible.
- The very concept of individual Bible reading is foreign to the people of the Bible. While they would have lived the Shema by talking about God’s word while going about their daily business, when they read or heard someone read from the Bible it was only while they were standing at the Temple or synagogue or attending some version of school.
- If people were to “spend time in God’s word” daily, it was because they had memorized it. (Something our culture has little patience for.)
If Protestants really want to dig into this phenomenon they need to understand it in context of the Reformation and not necessarily something the early church did. (There are lots of great books and commentaries about early church culture if you’d like to dig into this more, likewise there are many wonderful books about the Reformers.)
Is reading the Word of God good? Absolutely. Is a daily devotional life a biblical command worthy of the holy guilt trip we lay on people? Not so much.
Let’s understand that the very notion of “doing a daily devo” is a cultural creation. And let’s rethink that in light of what we are actually hoping to accomplish with the daily devo… a love of God’s Word.
Passing on a love of the Bible guilt-free
As I mentioned above from comments from students, we emphasize the daily devotional as a measuring device for spiritual well-being. Very quickly, students and adults learn that to be seen as spiritually mature they either need to actually do a daily, individual Bible study OR learn how to lie convincingly enough to make it appear that they do.
That’s legalism at its finest, right?
Instead… let’s think of ways to teach a love for God’s Word. And, as James says, not just a love of God’s word but a love for obeying and applying biblical principles into our lives.
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
What are some ways we can pass along a love for the Bible without defaulting to a method which (could) lead someone towards hypocrisy and/or legalism?
I can’t speak for you… but I know when I think about the adults, students, and even my own kids… I want to pass along a fervent, ravenous, sickeningly healthy, blood bond love for the Bible. (And the Christ it points to!)
The question to wrestle with is: How do we do that?
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